The New York Attorney General’s Office closed a collection agency in the state and nearly 20 other accounts receivable management firms have been subpoenaed to provide additional information about their collection practices. The actions were part of “statewide inquiry into debt collection companies.â€
The Attorney General’s office obtained a court order against Lamont Cooper and two debt collection firms he owns that operated in the state: Emanee Development, Inc. and Dial Tech LLC. The order stipulates that the companies will shut down and Cooper will be forced to pay restitution to consumers in New York. Cooper and his companies are permanently barred from engaging in the debt collection business and acting as brokers that buy and resell portfolios of consumer debt.
The attorney general alleged that Cooper’s companies told debtors that they were criminals, threatened lawsuits and arrest, engaged in third party disclosure, and other violations of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA).
The Attorney General’s office has subpoenaed nearly 20 companies and law firms operating as debt collectors throughout the state. The subpoenas included requests designed to discover the policies and procedures the debt collectors have implemented to comply with federal and state laws, how the companies respond to complaints about their collection practices, as well as how individual collectors are compensated.
The probe of debt collection practices will include activities that are illegal under state and federal law, including fraudulent threats of criminal prosecution, harassing phone calls to consumers and their families, friends and employers, bringing lawsuits against and/or reporting consumers to credit reporting agencies without verifying that the consumer being targeted actually owes the debt, and failing to disclose that a caller is working for a debt collector.
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